Filmmakers want all-Canadian movie channel

By The Canadian PressPublished February 10, 2013 - 4:16am Last Updated February 10, 2013 - 8:20am

TORONTO — A group of Canadian filmmakers led by producer Robert Lantos is trying to launch an all-Canadian movie channel.

Denys Arcand, David Cronenberg, Atom Egoyan, Paul Gross, Guy Maddin, Deepa Mehta and Denis Villeneuve are among the supporters of an application to the federal broadcast regulator for Starlight: The Canadian Movie Channel.

Starlight spokesman Norm Bolen said the station would be devoted entirely to Canadian movies — particularly feature films intended for theatrical release — as well as documentaries, TV shows and made-for-TV movies.

Starlight would also invest a forecasted $23 million a year back into Canadian film production, with the aim of supporting 10 to 12 feature films a year, he said.

Homegrown feature films have been largely “abandoned” by the country’s broadcasting system, said Bolen.

Bolen noted that unlike most other Western countries, Canada hasn’t done a lot to ensure feature films — which often get a very limited theatrical release — are part of the content mix on the broadcasting system.

And broadcasters tend not to air feature films because they’re harder to promote than long-running series they can build a franchise around, he said.

The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission is set to hold a hearing to review the application on April 23.